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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23384881">sleepless in centium city</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironicsopsychotic/pseuds/lovelyserpentines'>lovelyserpentines (ironicsopsychotic)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lab Rats: Elite Force (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(gasp) they were roommates!, F/M, bed sharing, perry's in ch3 lmao, snapshot series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2016-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:09:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,745</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23384881</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironicsopsychotic/pseuds/lovelyserpentines</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>davenport had taken some time, but eventually each teen got their own room in the penthouse (as a certain two had a habit of snoring). something that didn’t take much time at all was those same two beginning to share their rooms anyway.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kaz/Skylar Storm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. hangover</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>This was such a bad idea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She should have gone to Bree. Or Chase. Or probably just stayed in her own </span>
  <em>
    <span>room.</span>
  </em>
  <span> But here she was, at the end of the hall, fist raised to knock on the doorframe for the past two minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her breathing was coming out shallowly and she wasn’t aware of why, but the prospect of actually entering his bedroom at three am under the pretense “I couldn’t sleep” spiked her pulse so much to the point where she began to wonder if it was possible for a Calderan girl to even </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> a heart attack. She wasn’t even sure why her feet automatically went to his door as soon as they hit the floor–it was the farthest away, for heaven’s sake! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She could hear his snores. Gosh, why did they </span>
  <em>
    <span>both</span>
  </em>
  <span> snore? Attempting to push the question out of her mind and focus on what she should have done several minutes ago, she shook her head and swallowed hard. This wasn’t even a big deal. She was making this mean too much. All she was doing was waking him up so she’d have someone to talk to about something personal because it had been on her mind lately. She just as easily (she almost scoffed at herself; like this was </span>
  <em>
    <span>easy) </span>
  </em>
  <span>could have talked to Bree or Chase, or even texted Crossbow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the fact was…she didn’t want to talk to them about this. For whatever reason, she wanted to talk to Kaz.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before her courage could take a nosedive once again, she quickly knocked on the door. Not too loud, but enough for him to hear–if he were awake, that was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar sighed and rolled her head around once before knocking again, louder. Still no response. If she got much louder the other team members would wake up, and the last thing she wanted was to be spotted outside his door this early in the morning. His snoring wasn’t getting any quieter, which, in her case, meant she was waking up a bit, so instead of potentially getting herself caught, she chose to do something else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She just went in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d seen the inside of his room a total of two times. Once when he was so excited about getting his own room for the first time in his life and she happened to be the first person he ran into to show the finished product to, and second in a dream she had. Come to think of it, that probably didn’t count, and she wasn’t about to admit aloud she had dreamt of anything even </span>
  <em>
    <span>remotely</span>
  </em>
  <span> relating to him. That being said, she took an extra long look around the area.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Several pieces of furniture were shoved into the slightly small room, but it didn’t look cramped. His bed was in the center of the right wall, a nightstand on both sides. One held his phone, a bottle of water, and a lamp, while the other shelved a self help book for which she couldn’t read the title. There was an outlet strip on the floor beside his bed, and another on the opposite side of the room. A desk was put into one corner, strewn with all things imaginable–wrappers, knickknacks, and clothing amongst them–except for papers. Skylar seriously doubted Kaz kept an organized folder or drawer in the vicinity, which meant he probably had no use for papers, loose-leaf or otherwise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she walked further into the room, her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She’d been in the hallway for quite some time, and she didn’t dare turn the light on, but this was even darker. His curtains were thick and black, blocking out every chance the moon had to shine its light. Skylar blinked, making out a few piles of laundry on the bean bag chair. She glanced upward and almost chuckled. He’d stuck glow-in-the-dark stars onto the ceiling. She found herself smiling as she imagined how challenging it must have been for him to adhere them before he remembered he could fly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was just noticing the television in a corner close to the ceiling when sudden movement shifted her attention. Kaz moved around in his bed, but his snoring continued. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. He was such a heavy sleeper. She stepped over more piles of clothing and an unidentifiable object that she nearly stubbed her toe on, stealing a look at his closet as she went. It wasn’t a walk-in like hers or Bree’s, rather one built into the wall with sliding doors. One was pushed open halfway, enough for her to be able to make out his T-shirts and jeans hanging along with a small dresser underneath them. It was striking her as odd there wasn’t a mirror in the entire room and yet he still managed to look amazing on a daily basis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her mind couldn’t even register how she shouldn’t have been having thoughts like that because she had reached his bed by that point. His sleeping figure looked downright </span>
  <em>
    <span>adorable</span>
  </em>
  <span> and it actually pained her to have to wake him up, but she had come this far and wasn’t just going to watch him sleep like a creep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She lightly nudged his head with her fingertips. He snored in response. Skylar groaned and leaned down, moving his head around in her hands. She was just getting annoyed when his eyes opened and she fully took in how close their faces were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was saved from an embarrassing kneejerk reaction to jump away as Kaz mumbled, “What are you doing in here?” His words were slurring and his eyes were red, and Skylar had to pull back anyway because his breath was </span>
  <em>
    <span>awful</span>
  </em>
  <span> and–</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh gosh. He was hung-over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t even respond, just supersped to the bathroom and came back with a bucket to place by his bed. He was just beginning to sit up when his face turned a sickly shade of green recognizable even in the pale light of the fake stars, and he leaned over to grasp the bucket in his hands and bury his head in it almost immediately. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar wrinkled her nose and tried to breathe through her mouth. “How much did you drink?” she whispered, one hand moving on its own accord to rub his back as she sat down next to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few moment passed before Kaz could lift up his head to grumble, “Enough to do this,” before promptly throwing up again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar knew Kaz and Oliver had gone out last night–the only reason she declined was because Oliver would’ve made it seem like an impromptu date with Kaz as the third wheel instead of a night out between the original triad–but she assumed it was to a comic book expo or a movie, not a party, but that appeared to be what had happened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She contemplated going ahead and discussing her problems anyway. Really, she did. But she couldn’t possibly put him through such a conversation (that she seriously thought he’d be bored with) when he was in this state. Well, she could, but what kind of friend would that make her out to be?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sighed and got to her feet, running her fingers through her hair as she did so. “Well…I guess I’ll leave you to…” She inwardly cringed. “…vomit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was almost to the door when Kaz wheezed out, “But what did you want?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar turned around and tried to shrug nonchalantly, like it was no big deal. “It’s nothing. It can wait.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had closed the door and was almost back to her room when she felt her phone buzz in the pocket of her sweatpants. Stopping with her hand on her doorknob, she fished it out and looked at the message on the notification tab.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span> do you think you could come back?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Her palms suddenly felt very sweaty. Why did he want her to come </span>
  <em>
    <span>back?</span>
  </em>
  <span> It wasn’t like they talked much anymore. They weren’t ever super close friends. And if she were him, she’d be in no mood to talk right now. At three am. With a hangover.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She unlocked the screen and typed out </span>
  <em>
    <span>no, probably not rn</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Her thumb hovered over the SEND button. Her eyes watered from the bright light. And she was almost pressing down when he sent another text.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t feel good. idk, it’d be nice to have someone here.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Her throat was constricting. This meant absolutely </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she reminded herself. If he had woken up sick on his own, alone, instead of seeing her face, he never would be texting her. He’d either suffer by himself, or get Oliver.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>just for the night?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Erasing her typed up message, Skylar turned right back around and pushed open his door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t get to talk about her problem that night. They didn’t really talk at all. They didn’t need to. Most of the early morning was spent with Kaz throwing up and Skylar rubbing his back, but the fact that he had wanted </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be there for him? She felt really good about that. Like they weren’t so separated as they’d felt in the penthouse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Needless to say, she didn’t pass up the opportunity to tease him about the glow-in-the-dark stars.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. midnight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which skylar finally gets to talk about what she wanted to talk about, kaz is mature(tm), all featuring hANDHOLDING.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Let it be said that Skylar did not embarrass herself by going back to his bedroom the very next night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She just happened to text him three days later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kaz was falling asleep around twenty past eleven, his phone lingering somewhere between his fingertips and his face, when his phone buzzed with a text and it finally landed on his forehead. He groaned and sat up in his bed, almost knocking over the lamp beside him in the process. He was just starting to get annoyed when he actually opened the message and his demeanor changed.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I wanna talk about that thing from a few days ago. Can you come to my room?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>It really shouldn’t have been such an exciting prospect for him, but the idea of actually talking to her about something other than his drinking tendencies at parties while he threw up? The idea jolted him and put some energy back into his tired body.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>rn?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Like that really mattered to him. It could’ve been three in the morning again and he’d go.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Yeah. Be quiet tho, I think Chase is still awake.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>This felt like a secret rendezvous, and that only added to his good mood.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>on my way.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He was almost out the door when it occurred to him Skylar might not appreciate his current state–shirtless. He shuffled back to his closet and grabbed a T-shirt, pulling it on while using his knee to open one of his drawers. He didn’t know how long he’d be in her room, but if it was anything close to his drunken episode (which ended up being several hours into the late morning), then he should probably bring socks. He was just putting on his right sock when his phone lit up from its spot on his bed where he’d left it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hopping over, he pressed the home button to illuminate it once again only to see this:</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ik I’m the fastest girl in the world and everything, but even w/o my skewed sense of time I’m pretty sure you’re taking awhile.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Kaz rolled his eyes even though he felt the corners of his mouth tugging upward as he typed out a response.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>shut up and gimme a second.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>After stubbing several toes while closing drawers and turning off lights, Kaz left his room and quietly closed the door, hoping his mumbled curses didn’t draw Chase’s attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>~ . ~</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead of sweatpants like last time, Skylar had opted to wear shorts to bed that night, and it wasn’t until she had opened the door to motion Kaz in silently that she realized she had chosen the pair that made her ass look great.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Too late now, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she argued mentally, locking away the part that was proud of her possibly-subconscious choice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what’s up?” She heard Kaz’s voice but couldn’t fully see him yet. Her eyes had been relatively adjusted to the darkness, but the nightlight Chase had stuck in the hallway outlet had temporarily messed up her eyesight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When her vision returned, she turned to see Kaz settling himself in on her bed. His abs were somehow well-defined through his shirt and her attention was in several places other than where it should’ve been. She looked away from him all together and wrung her hands out. “Alright, so I have a boy problem.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grumbled quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar abandoned her decision to avoid looking at him and snapped her gaze to his face. “What? Is boy talk beneath you or something? Because I’ve listened to you talk about many, </span>
  <em>
    <span>many </span>
  </em>
  <span>girls in the past and let me just say–”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no, it’s fine,” he cut her off, and somehow she could see his eyes in the dark. They seemed sincere and not annoyed, which is what she had expected to see. “I just have a feeling I know which guy this is about.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar bit her lip and leaned her hip against her desk’s side, shirt riding up the tiniest bit. “I have a feeling you’re right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He groaned loudly, and she picked up a stray pen to toss at him. It definitely hit him, but not anywhere that would really bother him – not that she could tell in the dark. If she’d gotten too close to his groin, though, he definitely would’ve told her. And probably talked about it for ages.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, I stayed with you during your hangover, so you can stay with me while I talk about Oliver.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kaz groaned again, putting his limbs at risk yet again. “See, there it is, there it is. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>it’d be about Oliver!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar collected a small paperback book and threw it at him, hitting him in the chest. “Be quiet!” she reprimanded in a whisper, her now empty hand sparking with one of her many powers, unidentifiable in such little light but seemingly ionikinesis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kaz’s own hand lit up with a fireball and his face became visible in whole as a result. “Then you calm down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kaz, I swear, if you set my lamp on fire–”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His fire extinguished, and so did her own little show of dominance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine. Start talking about my best friend.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar decided to ignore his tone and listen to his words. “Okay. So…” She took a step forward, then another back. How was she supposed to start this? “You…</span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> how I kind of liked him, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a pause. “You know I was hung-over a few days ago, right? Not born yesterday?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She made a guttural noise in the back of her throat but continued. “Alright, so you know. It’s just that, lately…I don’t know…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kaz picked up her train of thought, and she seriously doubted he believed she had lost it. “You don’t now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t a question, and gosh, it made her thoughts so much clearer that someone else had picked up on it as well. “You’re right. I don’t. I don’t know why I did in the first place.” She didn’t even look at him, but rushed to explain. “I mean, I know he’s a great friend and all–”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Skylar, you don’t have to try to…</span>
  <em>
    <span>apologize,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he began, locating the word he wanted to use, “about saying what you’re thinking. Oliver’s a great person, but he’s always been a creep when it comes to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She exhaled and it felt so calming. “This must be why I wanted to talk to you. You’re close with him, but not so much that your judgment’s clouded. Bree probably would’ve bashed him inherently.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He snorted, and her facial expression softened. “There’s no ‘probably’ to that statement.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her face broke out in a grin and she ducked her head, messing with her hair for a second. “You have a point.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she straightened back up, she started to wander around, both physically and mentally. “The whole problem is…I’m pretty sure his feelings toward me haven’t changed, and it’s not going to be much fun for me if I’m right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Almost certain you’re right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was the problem with him being brutally honest. In moments like this, she’d almost take his immediate lying nature over the legitimacy. Skylar rubbed a hand over one eye, suppressing a sarcastic comment. “I just, he–</span>
  <em>
    <span>ugh!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>She threw her hands up and stopped moving, facing Kaz although she couldn’t make out hardly anything solid aside from his face. “This situation just </span>
  <em>
    <span>sucks</span>
  </em>
  <span> and I’ve been stuck in it for, like, two years!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He laid an arm across his forehead. “Skylar, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> it sucks. Truthfully, it kinda sucks for everyone. Do you know how many double dates I could’ve set up with him if he wasn’t all for stalking you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kaz,” she almost whined. “I’m serious.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So am I.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Admittedly, she already thought he was. Oliver tended to be a little…</span>
  <em>
    <span>odd</span>
  </em>
  <span> when it came to Skylar. But still, actually talking about it out loud and not just letting it bounce around in her jumbled-up mind made it way worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t even think he really likes </span>
  <em>
    <span>me. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He doesn’t like my flaws, not like he tries to act like he does. I’d much rather have someone who calls me out on the shit I do instead of someone who makes excuses </span>
  <em>
    <span>for</span>
  </em>
  <span> me.” She was opening up rather quickly, and now that she realized it, she might as well keep going. Running a hand through her hair, “I feel like…like, he’s more into ‘Skylar Storm’ and not </span>
  <em>
    <span>Skylar.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a noise which seemed like Kaz moving around on her bed. “If that’s true, I’m sure he doesn’t realize it. He’s always had a way of tricking himself into believing something – as well as latching onto one trait and holding it above all the others.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>From anyone else – hell, maybe from </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> if they traveled back two years – she’d probably find something to take offense to in that conclusion. But she knew Kaz was saying what he thought, and she appreciated that. And this was likely not the first time he’d came to this ending. It made sense, and sense was hard to get mad at if you had your head on right. Even if your first two fell off on Caldera.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay…” She took in an audible breath. “But I still want to, like, step </span>
  <em>
    <span>back, </span>
  </em>
  <span>ya know? I’m not going to lead him on, but I definitely don’t want to come right out and say it to his face and make him all upset.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar felt so </span>
  <em>
    <span>tired</span>
  </em>
  <span> all of a sudden, and her legs were going to give up on her. This burden she’d been carrying around was almost lifted just by sharing it, and now the fatigue was settling in. She never had caught up on the sleep she’d lost after Kaz’s hangover incident.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had been laying sprawled out on her bed as she paced back and forth this entire time, but now that she felt like sitting down she couldn't help but notice he'd made room for her. She slumped into the mattress and let herself fall back, bare arm brushing against his and giving her goose bumps. She let out the heaviest sigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I just don't know what to do," she mumbled, turning onto her side to look at Kaz. He was still fully paying attention to her rambling. She imagined him with glasses and a clipboard, asking patients back into another room to begin their therapy session, and she almost chuckled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't think you</span>
  <em>
    <span> have</span>
  </em>
  <span> to do anything," he finally put in. Throughout the entire conversation, he'd been the one listening the most. "If Oliver can't figure out you're trying not to hurt him but still backing away, then he's blind. It might be worse to cut things off cleanly all at once instead of doing it slowly." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar blinked at him. Was this actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kaz?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Since when could she have these deep, intellectual conversations with him?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Misinterpreting her blank stare and silence as indifference, he added, "I mean, obviously do what you want, that's just my two cents."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, no," she responded, waving one hand in the air to erase his last sentence. "I think that's a good idea. I'll go with that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kaz just looked at her. One eyebrow rose up. "You sure? 'Cause trust me, I won't take personal offense if you do something else." He showed a shiny sliver of pearly white teeth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar grinned and shook her head. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."</span>
</p><p>
  <b>~.~</b>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Pretty and sure.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He kept his mouth shut tightly, afraid his thought would escape somehow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn't realize he'd been staring into her eyes. He didn't realize they'd both completely adjusted to the darkness once again and that if anyone else entered the room, they wouldn't be able to see the look of absolute bliss and content on Skylar's face. But he could, and so he whispered, "Do you want me to stay here tonight?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could sense her hesitation. He almost took it back, but then she readily said, "Yes," into the darkness and he was glad he didn't. She sounded so relieved to have someone with her. He knew the feeling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he remembered it was his turn to say something. "Because, you know, I called you back to my room last time, so..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had to be his imagination, because she actually looked a little upset at his utter bullshit explanation. He just wanted to stay there. He wasn't sure when he started wanting to talk to Skylar so much, but over the past few days he just wanted to…a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot.</span>
  </em>
  <span> They'd grown apart upon moving into the penthouse and becoming members of the Elite Force, and even though neither of them acknowledged it out loud, he could tell it put a strain on her too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She nodded, eyes shining brightly in the room devoid of light. They were so brown. "Yeah, of course. I knew what you meant."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His face felt warm, but he just nodded back. She couldn't tell that he was embarrassed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was 11:55. The time for conversation was over and had slipped into “bedtime,” as childish as it sounded. They weren’t under the covers. They didn’t even have their eyes closed. They were looking at each other, their only focus in the entire room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Three minutes might have passed, not even, and Kaz found himself whispering, “It’s really nice to talk to you again.” He had no </span>
  <em>
    <span>clue</span>
  </em>
  <span> where that courage came from, and now his face was igniting with such a deep blush he was sure she could tell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If they went back a few months to their time in Mighty Med, where Skylar was just starting to reciprocate some of Oliver’s feelings, then maybe she’d make fun of him. She’d give him a knowing look, indicating she didn’t believe him. She’d laugh. But that night? She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her hand enveloping his was all he needed to understand she felt the same way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was midnight, and they were holding hands in the dark. They were just friends. No, scratch that—they were friends. The word "just" implied they desired to be more. And they didn't. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least they didn't think so. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>leave comments and kudos! xx</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. power outage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which the family (including douglas and donald and almost perry lmao) bond--that is, until it's time to crash. then kaz has to find skylar.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was about a week later when the third incident occurred, and, if she were being honest, this time was completely on her own accord. (Again.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Normally power outages in Centium City were fan</span>
  <em>
    <span>tastic,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but it just so happened that the Elite Force had some guests to keep them company in the penthouse. Kaz made the fireplace work while she and Bree flitted around the living room, lighting tiny candles to concentrate more brightness where the group  would be seated. The Davenport brothers were setting up some ridiculous, undoubtedly expensive card game they had dug out of a secret compartment for occasions just like this. Oliver went to break out the chips and sodas, while Chase checked all phones to assure everyone had a sufficient battery percentage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time they actually settled onto the floor and began the game, she was snuggled back into the couch cushions, and he was as well, Bree in between them. Barbeque, sour cream and onion, and—Chase’s personal favorite, which Bree dubbed </span>
  <em>
    <span>“bland”</span>
  </em>
  <span>—cheddar cheese chips were passed around religiously throughout the entirety of the game, accompanied by Cokes and Pepsis and one lone orange Sunkist belonging to none other than her room-sharing buddy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She found her focus drifting away from the game rather quickly as her eyes wandered around the barely-lit room. This was such a cozy enclosure, even with as many people they had crammed into it. After awhile, the card game was switched out for a board game, Douglas and Oliver ending up at the top of the scoreboard. Donald was not taking too lightly to being on the bottom consistently, and Bree soon piped in, voicing her agreement only after Chase made fun of her for lacking enthusiasm. To be fair, her mood </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>leave something to be desired.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar was only decent at the game and so was he, something she attributed to them playfully calling out lies that the other cheated off them despite Bree sitting between them. Chips were thrown, cards flicked, and blankets flung around with only small, controlled fires extinguished soon after due to the surrounding candles still lit. She had been semi-subconsciously trying not to look at Oliver’s expression in fear of seeing skeptical jealousy, but when she caught a glimpse, all there was to behold was laughing eyes directed at the amused Bree. She almost let out a relieved sigh, but her thoughts changed course when a pillow hit her square in the face. Then she was up and crawling over her pseudo-sister, legs tangling with the female’s while her arms twined with the male’s whom she was retaliating against.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She imagined this was what regular families did in their free time, maybe every Friday for a “game night” at home. When she wasn’t harassing Kaz/being harassed </span>
  <em>
    <span>by </span>
  </em>
  <span>Kaz, she took in the smiling faces and equally grumpy ones, the smell of several chip bags’ scents intermingling, the laughter bouncing off the walls, and she felt herself smile behind the blanket she kept close to her chin. Their family was not normal, not even </span>
  <em>
    <span>close, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but these simple things made her love and feel loved so fiercely that it didn’t matter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The moment was only broken when someone’s ringer went off, soon discovered to be Perry calling Chase’s phone. All the Davenports sighed collectively, but when they still answered the call, Skylar accidentally caught Oliver’s eye. She hadn’t meant to, but she was glad to see a mutual understanding in their gaze: Perry might have been strange and loud and very obnoxious, but she was part of the Davenports’ family just as much as the superheroes were. Her good mood could have also been from Oliver </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> staring at her longingly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She felt a sick kind of calm running through her veins. She loved Oliver; truly, she did, just not how he would have preferred. Some part of her mind was reveling in his normal attitude tonight, allowing her to hope that this was his feelings’ disappearing act in motion. Another part of her mind wondered just how rude it was to get so excited over her best friend giving up on her ever reciprocating his feelings. Maybe it wasn’t the nicest emotion to be experiencing, but it was better for everyone this way, wasn’t it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Douglas clambering to his feet and telling everyone goodbye snapped her out of her thoughts. The only explanation she could come to was that Perry had probably offered to come over to see him or something; he did leave rather hastily, and Perry </span>
  <em>
    <span>had </span>
  </em>
  <span>always made him nervous (and rightfully so). Skylar turned to her right, and it wasn’t until Kaz mouthed ‘you okay?’ at her did she realize the only reason she glanced that way was because she felt his eyes on her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She crinkled her eyebrows, thoughts drifting back to Oliver. She nodded anyway and, upon glancing at her glowing phone that read </span>
  <em>
    <span>1:00, </span>
  </em>
  <span>silently got to her feet and excused herself upstairs for bed. She </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>tired, that was true, but really she just wanted her mind to quiet down.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>~ . ~</b>
</p><p>
  <span>He managed to hold out ten minutes before heading upstairs himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t that she seemed </span>
  <em>
    <span>off, </span>
  </em>
  <span>exactly, but she had appeared more carefree throughout the night. Like she was indulging in herself, letting herself enjoy the events. Not that teasing and throwing around food and blankets with him was supposed to be some big prize to her, obviously. Of course not. It wasn’t like it was a reward to him, either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No one had batted an eye when he announced he wanted to sleep, which he reminded himself of as he came to a stop outside her bedroom door. He had absolutely no reason to feel like a—a </span>
  <em>
    <span>stalker </span>
  </em>
  <span>or anything. He was just curious about her behavior, and if his family downstairs didn’t act like it was odd he only wanted to sleep once she disappeared then, well, how weird could it actually be?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He received no response to his single knock on her door. She was probably already asleep—or, actually, </span>
  <em>
    <span>almost </span>
  </em>
  <span>asleep. There weren’t any snores yet. He was expecting there to be snores.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What he wasn’t expecting when he went back to his room was to find the Calderan snuggled up under the bed’s covers. </span>
  <em>
    <span>His </span>
  </em>
  <span>covers. His covers, his bed, his heart panging involuntarily against his ribcage at the sight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sighed almost inaudibly, shutting the door behind him and stumbling through the dark. Skylar’s breathing was even and light and he realized she was close to sleeping before he even got to the bed’s side. One look at her face in the low light and he couldn’t help but smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He loomed over her a moment, about to touch her shoulder to wake her up, but apparently she sensed him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I like the stars,” she murmured drowsily, eyes closed and voice quiet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His expression changed from what he suspected to be puppy-like adoration into a regular grin as he glanced aside. “Thanks,” he whispered, keeping the same volume. A beat passed before he couldn’t resist adding, “You didn’t have to hassle me about it when you first saw them though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skylar’s eyes still didn’t open but her mouth formed a soft, genuine smile. “Yes I did.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His face felt like it would break if he grinned any wider. “Are you just gonna stay in my bed?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well you can get in too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She must have sensed the facial expression he was going to send her way, as one eyelid lifted and she squinted at him in the dark room. “And don’t give me that look.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He put his hands up, feet beginning to move around the bed to the other side. “What look? I didn’t look at you in any way that I haven’t before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She made a disgruntled noise and moved underneath her part of the covers as he lifted his side up. “Yeah, you’ve definitely looked at me like a dork before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” he said indignantly, slipping under the covers and silently cursing himself when his leg brushed against hers. He hadn’t meant to make any physical contact, but now that he had his skin felt like it was on fire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he was settling into a comfortable position, he assumed she would adjust herself accordingly to leave some space between them. She didn’t. Their arms were touching and he wondered if she’d notice if he were to—</span>
  <em>
    <span>hypothetically—</span>
  </em>
  <span>get goose bumps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her breathing had begun to slow once again when he broke the silence, although it wasn’t the awkward kind. With them, it never was. “Why are you in here anyway?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her closed eyes scrunched up. “I don’t know. Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He glanced over at her, eyes shifting carefully. “I mean, I wasn’t even here. Why’d you come into my room?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No reason,” she mumbled, and he felt her arm twitch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Skylar.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kaz.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were both facing the ceiling and hadn’t even turned to each other. It was like they couldn’t, unless they wanted the playful conversation to get a lot more intense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe he shouldn’t have been intentionally pushing her buttons, but this </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> a question he wanted an answer to–especially if any of the others came in and saw them in the same bed for no other reason except </span>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t know.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on,” he urged, turning his head and focusing on her face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A moment passed before she huffed and shuffled around in the bed, ultimately dropping back down so she was facing him more head-on. Her eyes opened and she said, with full clarity, “Maybe I feel safe in your room.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were plenty of inappropriate ways to respond to that, many being stupid innuendos that somehow didn’t spring to his mind in that instant, but he only ended up doing one rather </span>
  <em>
    <span>reasonable </span>
  </em>
  <span>reply. He blinked and parted his lips, head still turned. “Okay,” he finally said, the only loud statement spoken in his room that night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked at him hard, no clear emotion discernible in her expression. “Okay then,” she answered, falling back into her previous position in the bed, eyes fluttering shut and breathing attempting to slow a few seconds after.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was probably around five minutes later, when he was still awake, somewhere between confused and impressed at her honesty, when he said it. Honestly, it felt like a much longer gap, a much </span>
  <em>
    <span>safer</span>
  </em>
  <span> gap for what he was about to say. But he said it anyway; he was fairly certain she was asleep by that point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I feel safe with you here, too,” he muttered, practically throwing caution to the wind. A sentence like that could easily have been used for blackmail, ammunition, embarrassing confirmation that something had changed in his behavior toward her. But he believed her to be unconscious, and so he didn’t allow himself to worry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t know she was wide awake, hyper aware of every inch of her skin that was touching his.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>leave comments and kudos!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>leave comments and kudos! xx</p></blockquote></div></div>
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